Oct. 27, 2008

By Russell Houghtaling

NIU Media Relations

Jon Brost knows how things fit together. The senior right tackle understands how his job on the football field has helped three-straight Northern Illinois running backs rush for over 1,000 yards. He sees what an opposing defense will do long before the snap.

Jon Brost knows how things fit together. He understands how an integrated circuits drive computers, television and radios. He sees how the most advanced technology in the world works.

A four-year starter on the Huskie offensive line, Brost holds an impressive 3.6 grade point average as an electrical engineering major. The humble lineman has always had as much pride in his academics as he does his blocking.

"I always had a high GPA in high school," Brost said "I'm not looking for it to slip anymore. I take honor in my grades."

He is not the only one who takes notice in his academic success. Brost, who has been called the top offensive lineman for the 4-3 Huskies, was named one of 164 semifinalists for the 2008 Draddy Trophy, presented annually by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame to honor football players who combine the best in academic and athletic accomplishment.

"This is a great honor to be included on this list," the native of Maple Grove, Minn., continued. "Everyone always notices the football part but to get recognized for the educational aspect of what we do and to get recognized for the work off the field is special."

The 15 finalists for the Draddy Trophy, which will be announced October 29, will be named winners of the NFF Scholar-Athlete Awards and each will receive an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship. Brost is one of 57 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) semifinalists and one of four Mid-American Conference players on the semifinalist list.

The NFF isn't the only entity that sees something special in Brost. Huskie offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Matt Limegrover also sees the senior as a unique player, who is as intelligent as his 6-6, 300-pound frame is imposing.

"He intimidates me a little bit with how smart he is," Limegrover said. "It's a nice thing for me as a coach to have someone so intelligent and also so football smart, able to just pick things up. It's especially nice with us being new and it being a new system."

Brost has had to learn quickly, as Limegrover is his third offensive line coach in five years. Last season, he produced under Harold Etheridge, and before that, Sam Pittman. Predictably, Brost is humble about his efforts during the coaching transitions.

"It's been similar coaching styles the entire time, so it hasn't been too bad," he said. "I won't name and names, but some have been more laid back, and some stricter." Though Brost down plays the change, Limegrover said the transition might have been more difficult on the fifth-year senior because of his lengthy experience.

"For the guys like Jon and Eddie Adamski (Center, R-Jr.), it was a little tougher because they were so well coached in different areas," Limegrover said. "That was a little bit tough, but, like I said, he's so smart. Once he got on board and figured it out, it was pretty easy for him to get going."

Brost's work away from the bright lights of Saturday night has been as impressive as his work under them. As part of his coursework, he studies and designs circuits, the seemingly magic technology that has launched the world into the so-called "Information Age." He is learning to design the chips that power the world's computers, communications, manufacturing and transportation systems.

But while his lofty grades may say otherwise, Brost claims the technicalities of engineering can be harder than a two-a-day workout under head coach Jerry Kill. "It's a lot of math and physics," he said. "It gets real hard sometimes and it's just over my head."

The electrical engineering major is heavy on math and physics, a fact that initially drew Brost into the field.

"Math and science have always come easy to me and I've always enjoyed them," he said. "It came easy to me, so I just thought I'd go with it."

That is a choice Brost has sometimes questioned, when the pressures of football has collided with the strains of engineering.

"I thought about changing majors a couple times," Brost said. "But I just pushed through my classes and got good grades, so I stuck with it."

While electrical engineering involves significant amounts of theory and math, the highlight of Brost's academic career is more hands-on.

"Last semester, we worked as a group on a noise cancellation helmet for motorcycles," Brost said. "The helmet reduces the sound from the outside. We designed all of it. We built it and did all the work."

Brost, in conjunction with another student in the class, started the process by recording the sounds of a motorcycle and transferring the noises to a computer. "We then wrote a program on how to figure out what the rider was hearing," Brost explained. "The headphones then play the exact opposite of that sound."

By listening to the ambient noise, then playing its inverse, the helmet reduces the decibel level significantly, giving the motorist a quieter ride. The device is impressive, and the fact that Brost and his partner built and programmed it in less than a semester makes the helmet even more so. But Brost isn't resting on his laurels.

"Right now in a class, we are building a sort of solar cell that kick out two kilowatts of power," Brost casually remarked.

That class project, those two kilowatts produced by only the sun, are enough to power a small heater.

Limegrover says its not just Brost's quiet humility, but his rare mix of intelligence, skill, and athleticism that has professional scouts, who come to NIU practice to see senior defensive end Larry English, interested in Brost.

"The scouts really like the combination of him being a high-GPA student, a four-year starter, and being big physical kid who can move," he said. "He's not a big fat sloppy kid. They all come to see Larry, but they all ask about Jon."

And Brost's play over the last four seasons has given scouts plenty of reason to believe in the big lineman with a brain to match. But while the final year of his career at NIU has been a success, the first year was far from it.

"The first couple of practices, I hated it and wanted to go home," he said. But after using 2004 as a redshirt season to grow, both physically and mentally, Brost quickly acclimated to the college game.

In fact, Brost acclimated so well that he started the first game of his freshman season, a Sept. 3 match-up in front of 110,971 people at "The Big House," home of the Michigan Wolverines. He said it was the moment football really became fun again. "I really felt good when I started against Michigan," he said. "That whole experience was awesome. It was a big change from that first two-a-day camp freshman year." Brost kept the good feelings of his first game rolling, as he started in all 12 games at right tackle. The effort earned him Third Team Freshman All-American honors from The Sporting News.

Brost was a shoe-in for Academic All-MAC honors as a sophomore, the first year he was eligible for the award. On the field, he played in every game of the Huskies' 2006 Poinsettia Bowl team, with 11 starts. That season, he helped pave the way for Garrett Wolfe, the nation's leading rusher with 1,928 yards. Brost was on the line that pushed Wolfe to a school record 353 yards against Ball State, and helped him to a 325-yard effort versus Eastern Michigan. Brost recorded 52 knockdown blocks, the second most on the team, and had at least six knockdown blocks in five games.

Last season, Brost earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V honors and was an Academic All-MAC selection for the second-straight year. He was also named third team All-MAC as voted by the league's coaches after starting all 12 games at right tackle and playing every offensive snap. The coaching staff named him the team's top lineman for the year, thanks in part to helping Justin Anderson become the ninth consecutive Huskie tailback to top 1,000 yards in a season.

This year, Brost has been as stalwart as ever, starting all seven games at right tackle. The Huskies rank third in the MAC in rushing offense with 177.3 yards per game, thanks largely to Brost and his colleagues on the offensive line. NIU has also allowed just 11 sacks, fourth-best in the league.

Brost's success can be attributed to his analytical approach to the game, according to Limegrover.

"Generally, people who are intelligent train themselves to learn, and one of the big things in football is repetition," Limegrover said. "Being such a good student and learner has helped him to train him better. He can focus more on his repetitions because he understands the game so well."

The value of Brost's extensive experience, which includes 42 career starts, is not lost on Limegrover.

"He's been through a lot and seen a lot," Limegrover said. "He's been to the opposing stadiums for the big games."

But Brost isn't just absorbing knowledge. He has passed it on to the younger players on the team.

"You can't substitute experience," Limegrover said. "He's a great influence on the younger kids, and has been a great mentor to redshirt freshman Trevor Olsen." Limegrover says that mentorship extends outside the lines, as Brost lives as an example for his teammates.

"He's going to put his eight hours in, so to speak, then head home and study, because that's a priority for him" Limegrover said. "I hope my daughter grows up and marries a guy like John Brost."

And while Limegrover says the hard-working right tackle is "really a quiet guy," Brost believes his passion shows in his play as much as his intelligence comes through in his grades.

"Before the ball snaps, everything is in my mind," Brost said "But after that, it's all heart."